The Fiat X1/9 was not the first mid-engined sports car sold to the masses with low power and good handling, but it combined sharp angular styling (by Bertone) with a sub 2000 lb curb weight that made Porsche 914 owners green with jealousy. The little X1/9 is a slow car that is fun to drive […]
The Fiat Coupe (or Coupé, if you prefer) had styling that was a departure from the boxy Fiats (Lada square edges on them!) of the 1980s and it is quite striking in person or in print, particularly compared to some of the monstrosities that roam the streets today. The Coupe was never imported into the […]
In 2007 Fiat re-introduced a city car to their lineup using the 500 name and even imported it into the United States, at least until 2019 when Fiat-Chrysler-Stellantis-BorgCube canceled the little city car. But that’s okay, because it was made in Mexico, so if you want a REAL Fiat 500, you need to get something […]
I know that a Fiat X1/9 has something like 70 horsepower…but it is a mid-engine Italian car and today’s example has one of the sweetest sets of wheels I’ve ever had the opportunity to put my eyes on. So if your idea of a perfect Sunday drive involves driving like a Sunday driver…then this is […]
When I see the words Fiat 124 Sport I immediately think of the Pininfarina styled Sport Spider version, but built on the same platform was a sedan, wagon, and coupe. Today we’ve got an example from the third series (1972-1975) of the Fiat Sport Coupe that has been in storage since 1985, but the seller […]
I know it would be a bad idea to buy a Fiat 500 Abarth. There must be a reason these things are so cheap. Right? Even in the middle of the biggest stupid used car inflation period in the history of wheels, the Fiat 500 is still one of the cheapest cars you can get […]
Let’s play a game. Somebody said you can’t get a decent $500 car anymore, but I think that is not entirely correct. Sure, you won’t find the plethora of running/driving cars that you could find 15 years ago, but you can still find an occasional gem in the guano. Find the best $500 car on your local craigslist/autotrader/facebashmorket/etc. I’ll kick this off with a 1980 Fiat 124 Sport Spider offered for $500 in Yucaipa, CA via craigslist.
This next car is a Fiat 850 Sport Spider that would have had a 843cc inline-4 that would have pushed a dismal 49 horsepower into the rear mounted transaxle. Today’s example, however, has been given an injection of speed and power in the form of the legendary tweetle-tweetle-Beetle engine. That’s right, a 1600cc dual port motor with a single carb and (to quote the seller) “twice the displacement, 10x the simplicity, and 100x the reliability!” I’ve never considered a VW engine to be an upgrade…but I guess this is the exception that proves the rule in cases not excepted. Find this 1969 Fiat 850 Sport Spider offered for $7,500 in Torrance, CA via craigslist.
We’ve all had a car that just made us feel happy. It might not have been the fastest car, or the nicest, or the most reliable, or prettiest. But it made you feel happy. Happy to get in it. Happy to wave at people on the road driving their bologna and American cheese on Wonderbread sandwich cars, while you drive in something that warms the cockles. Wait. Cockles? And why would cockles be warm? Did they get left in the back seat of a rear engine Fiat? And what are cockles anyway? Some kind of vestigial organ that your mother never told you about? No, that’s not right. I know what muscles are and I know that Molly Malone sells them with cockles that are alive (well…she is a fishmonger) so they must be some sorta shellfish or crustacean. Anyway, where was I? Ah, find this 1966 Fiat 850 Sport Coupe offered for $6,500 in Westfield, NJ via craigslist. Tip from Cory.
Turbocharged cars are a dime a dozen these days. But way back in the early 80s there were only a few cars with the snail shaped glowing/spinning things under the hood and they were mostly American cars like the Monte Carlo, Trans Am, and Buick Grand National…but if you did some research you could find a little company on the East Coast called Legend Industries that would turbocharge your Fiat Spider for a few bones. The Fiat Spider Turbo was as close as a factory installation as you could get and it even came new from a Fiat dealer with a factory warranty and today’s example needs nothing, except a new owner. Find this 1981 Fiat Spider Turbo offered for $14,990 in Edgewater, FL via craigslist. Tip from Rock On!